Center For Arts Education, Inc.

The Center for Arts Education is dedicated to ensuring that New York City public school students have quality arts learning as an essential part of their K-12 education. In addition to its capacity-building programs, CAE provides information and resources that demonstrate the benefits of and need for arts education as part of a quality, balanced education. CAE works to:

Raise awareness of the value of arts learning for every child.

Increase public consciousness about the need for equitable arts education opportunities in the New York City public schools.

Provide tools and support for educators, parents, elected officials, and others to advocate for and institute equitable education that includes the arts.

Influence educational and fiscal policies that will support arts education in all of the city''s public schools.

Programs:
Teaching and Learning

The Center for Arts Education works to address areas of deficit in the public schools. CAE’s Teaching and Learning programs build capacity for, and improve the quality of, teaching and learning in the public schools. Each program is designed to respond to the specific areas of need existing in a school and community, serving a diverse audience of students, teachers, teaching artists, educational administrators, and parents. The programs include: seminars that provide principals and school leaders with the resources to implement arts programs in their schools, arts career readiness training and internships for high school students, an institute equipping teaching artists to work with students on the Autism spectrum, a multi-media project that disseminates best practices in arts education, and an innovative school reform model program that works with arts-deficient middle schools to institute sustainable arts programming.

Community Reviews

When I first started teaching at PS 206K, the Joseph F. Lamb School in Brooklyn, there was no music program. I despaired as to how we could introduce instruments into our school, since although I am a certified Music teacher, I had no expertise in strings. A Project Arts Coordinator suggested I write a grant to the CAE-NYC/PAAP, and see if we could win a grant to teach strings in our school, starting with our parents. I was getting my Masters at Brooklyn College and was studying the methodology of Suzuki, and realized we had a perfect fit! " Teach the parent and you will reach the child." Our PA gladly came on board and pledged money to purchase the violins, and offered their assistance as well. We won the grant, and for the next eight years continued being awarded because our program, String Fling was a great success. From there we were awarded additional grants for violin study by NYC Councilmember Lew Fidler, and Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein. We developed a fantastic partnership with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, who became more than a partner, by extending every resource and opportunity to our students. Indeed, they became our dear friend.
Each year our grant was renewed, we innovated and evolved, adding more instruments, more students, and more services to ou families; no longer just parents. I became a site visitor, panelist, and grant reviewer, tasks that I loved, because they clearly demonstrated the success of the PAAP programs, citywide. Our PAAP even appeared on a video with Mayor Bloomberg, as a witness to the sucess of this program.
The most important result of our PAAP program however, was in the day school. The year following our program, we had violins, and a teacher in the school for almost every grade. This was due to our evening PAAP violin program. Our PA was so thrilled to be learning violin, that they insisted the children must have the same experience; and they did! Parents, staff, teachers, all became involved in our PAAP violin program, even the community was touched by it. Additionally, student teachers from Brooklyn College had an opportunity to study and become involved as well. The violin program still exists today, although I am no longer teaching at PS 206K.
PAAP changed the climate and direction of a school. It is an extraordinary program that must continue in its efforts to bring the Arts to all children, parents and families in NYC. I know PS 206K will always be greatful for the seed that PAAP provided to build our house. Thank you CAE-NYC/PAAP, for making so many things possible!

We were awarded a PAAP grant by CAE a couple of years ago to do a photography workshop with parents at our school. The entire experience was transformative. Maybe one of the best parts about it was receiving a huge amount of guidance from CAE on how to make the project successful and run smoothly. We were able to avoid a lot of pitfalls by having easy and timely access to experienced, energetic and highly organized CAE staff, and our peers at other schools (via network opportunities organized by CAE).
Funding is key, but concrete and expansive presence in the community is of even higher value. Our relationship with CAE has continued to evolve as we have become part of the hugely import initiative to make the arts accessible to ALL NYC school children!
CAE strikes me as an effectively organized, caring and motivated group that fills a desperate need for a valuable resource for our children.

I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...

being awarded a grant, attending several workshops on planning and strengthening arts initiatives in our schools, attending rallies organized by CAE

What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...

The huge amount of support the offer to help us go out and get our own arts initiatives working in our own communities.

The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...

Very kind, generous in their support, clear communicators, very knowledgeable and extraordinary planners.

If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...

grow a generation of arts supporters who would be well equipped to take on the task of ensuring long into the future that arts makes the vital, enriching contribution to our children's education that should always be there.

How frequently have you been involved with the organization?

About every six months

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

Working closely with the Center for Arts Education, I see the impact of their work in New York City and nationally through groundbreaking policy research and advocacy.
This organization has done more to advance the field of arts education than any other I am familiar with over the last two years.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

The Center for Arts Education awarded our school a grant, called "Parents as Arts Partners(PAAP). We received $3000, and with that money served over500 people. we held 5 workshops for 50-80 parents and children. We made jewelry, worked with clay, created masks and painted. We had a museum visit, attended by over 50people. The parents and children loved these activities, it brought them closer with their children, creating art, side-by -side, and brought the school community together. It was incredible!

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

My school received PAAP grants for two years from CAE. This wonderful program allowed us to introduce parents and kids (many from immigrant families) to the cultural opportunities available in our own backyard in Queens first year by visiting 3 Queens museums and the 2nd focusing on one the Isamu Noguchi Museum doing in depth work at the museum and in school. both years were great and the help and guidance we received from CAE was immeasurable. Even though the programs are done the ideas of careers in the arts in NYC is a part of our curriculum and an important future goal for many of our students. thanks.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I have been involved with the CAE on behalf of my school for about 9 years. During that time, the center has funded many wonderful arts functions and programs designed to link school, family and community together through the arts, and spread the word about the importance of arts education by connecting us with talented artists who beautifully unite the arts with curriculum learning. The staff, students and families of P.S. 279 have been touched many times by the efforts of the CAE and their commitment to achieving their goals of keeping the arts alive when economic times are so difficult. We wish to thank the Center for Arts Education for all of their help in supporting our school's arts endeavors.

I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...

I've personally experienced the results of this organization by coordinating the events in our school that they sponsor. It is because of their programs that our school is so proud of the murals that their artist and programs have made possible.

How frequently have you been involved with the organization?

About once a year

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I am a professional freelance illustrator who has worked in the field for over 30 years. Over the past few years, I've been teaching art at a local non-profit arts organization, and also taught a class at a local private elementary school. I found that I needed teaching artist training to enhance my abilities to instruct students according to DOE and NYC Blueprint standards, and luckily for me the Staten Island Teaching Artists Institute began the kind of training I needed this past spring.
The Center for Arts Education is a vital part of the partnership that created and administered the Staten Island Teaching Artists Institute. In training artists like me to teach their art according to DOE standards and practices, they have furthered their goals of "ensuring that New York City public schools integrate high-quality arts learning and teaching into the education of every student", and "improving the quality of teaching and learning through grant programs, professional development, cultural partnerships, and other initiatives."
The Center for Arts Education has, through the Staten Island Teaching Artists Institute, conducted an intensive teaching artist training and internship program in which professional writers, visual artists, and performers learned to transform their talents into creative teaching tools to inspire underserved young people.
And now, due to this training experience, I am happy to report that I have been hired by Studio in a School, a highly regarded teaching artist organization, to begin teaching art this new school year in NYC schools. There is also the possibility that I will be working with a second organization to do the same in other area schools.
Thank you Center for Arts Education, for your diligent efforts to further the cause of using art in schools to enhance and complete the education of all students.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I work at Academy of American Studies, a public high school in Long Island City, Queens. I have written several grants for the school with The Center for Arts Education in the last 7 years. These have included Parents as Arts Partners grants (4), which gave us the opportunity to bring parents into the school to work with their child on an art project; a Partnership Grant with Museum of Modern Art which has continued for 3 years beyone the grant, at MoMA's expense; and for the last 3 years, the Career Development Program which matches selected students with arts-related industries for internships. All of these programs have had a tremendous impact on the Arts curriculum in our school! The internship program has had an equally spectacular impact on the students who have been chosen in the last 3 years. These students have all been Seniors, and have gone on to college with an extra credit on their transcript, experience which is priceless, in some cases a continued relationships with their worksite (for instance, continued working there in the summers or during college years), and most recently one of our students was chosen for a college scholarship through this program. The dedicated staff at CAE have been with our school through all of these programs and have supported our staff and students with professionalism.

I Was part of CAE's 2010 Class, this program gives students all the tools to manage life on the job. They provide the students with options for their career in the Arts. When I enrolled to this program I had already decided what I wanted to study in college but they showed me that there are so many more options to choose from. The environment is great and all the students that are part of the program are committed to the arts and to this experience.

My initial connection with Center For Arts Education began as a Parents As Art Partner Grant (PAAP)recipient in 2003. Through the years my relationship with CAE has continued through Career Develpment Program and also becoming involved as a panelist and site visitor. Our parent community as well as our student and school community have been able to continue to collaborate with CAE. Our parents gain a stronger sense of the Blue Print Standards as they spend time with their child, whether it be young or old. My personal connection in past years has been enhanced through CAE's wonderful staff, their honesty and true expressions of values that we strive to instill in our upcoming generation. I have seen through the Career Development Program some amazing young adults. CAE's programs are well developed, and in all honesty I feel that they are a wonderful example to be shared with other countries. Their programs work, proving to reflect positive with the arts.